International bestselling author and global change agent John Perkins is coming to San Miguel de Allende. Perkins will deliver a keynote address at the San Miguel Writers' Conference on Friday February 12, 11AM. The event coincides with the release of his latest book, The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.

The Center for Global Justice has arranged a more intimate conversation with Perkins on Tuesday, February 9 at Teatro Santa Ana, and you're invited. Perkin's 2004 best seller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man opened many eyes to how U.S. economic development programs in the global South left many poor countries beholden to the U.S. politically as well as economically. His new book, updated and expanded, sheds additional light on the role of the U.S. and global corporations and how they profit from this neocolonization.

For the February 9 event, "Conversation with John Perkins: Social and Environmental Justice," a panel of local readers will engage him in conversation on the stage of Teatro Santa Ana. How and why does corporate capitalism wrest control of others' lands? How did Perkins personally make the break from this predatory role to write his blockbuster Confessions? What is the New Consciousness that he sees is needed to transform our present Death Economy to a Peace Economy? And what institutional changes are needed to make it possible? What is less well known about Perkins is that he is not only an economist, he is also a shaman who has worked with indigenous communities in South America, and is an advisor to the non-profit indigenous rights group Pachamama Alliance.

This "Conversation with John Perkins" is jointly sponsored by the Center for Global Justice, a research and learning center for a better world; and Caminos de Agua (formerly CATIS), providing practical sustainable solutions for communities at risk that rely on the Independencia Aquifer. Tickets available at the Biblioteca, 200 pesos.

Tickets for Perkins' keynote address at the Writers' Conference are available on the Conference website (sanmiguelwritersconference.org); at the Caminos de Agua information table at the Saturday Organic Market; or at the Sala Literaria in Bellas Artes on February 4 from 2 to 4 PM; cost $25 USD or 390 Pesos. Mr. Perkins will be on hand to sign copies of his new book following his keynote. This event is sure to sell out, so purchase your tickets pronto!

**** Wednesday 11:00 ****

NATO uber alles?

NATO has been the U.S.s premier military alliance since the 1940s. It was to defend Europe against a supposed threat from the Soviet Union. But now, a quarter century after the demise of the U.S.S.R., NATO continues and has expanded its operations far beyond the north Atlantic region from which it drew its name. Meanwhile, within Europe itself NATO has contributed to what Dr. Joan Roelofs calls the "bananazation of Europe."

A professor of Political Science, Dr. Roelofs will examine NATO as a political institution and some of the reasons why Western European social democracies were willing to join and to remain in this alliance – an alliance that has kept them under U.S. tutelage. Are these supposedly social democratic countries really democracies, or are they banana republics? Is NATO trying to become a world government? These are among the questions, rarely addressed by scholars and journalists, that Dr. Roelofs will address.

**** Thursday 1:00 ****

THE END OF POVERTY?

Why are the people living in some of the richest countries in terms of resources always the poorest people in the world? Why are there poor countries and rich countries at all? How did this come about and can it be overcome? The documentary film "The End of Poverty?" presents some disturbing answers.

A lot of the answer is found in the history of European colonialism and slavery. For example, Britain was an obscure island off the western coast of Eurasia when its traders arrived in India, then one of the wealthiest countries in the world. When Britain left India several centuries later, she was wealthy and India was impoverished.

Director Philippe Diaz has skillfully interwoven such information, connecting the extreme, irreparable poverty of the so-called Third World with the extreme, burgeoning wealth of the United States and Western Europe, the wars and assassinations that secure that wealth, and the destruction of the environment that accompanies it. It is a disparity still being reinforced in post-colonial and neo-colonial times through the IMF, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization.

"The End of Poverty?" is a sweeping education about the world we live in today.

The End of Poverty is a good movie, I really enjoyed it. However, it is probably not possible to end it, unfortunately. It is impossible to feed every child in the world, especially when the governments do not try to help at all. It is sad.